Reaching for the Stars: Increasing the Role of Women in Science and Engineering

Sally Ride, former NASA astronaut and the first American woman in space, spoke about her career experience in a field that has been historically dominated by men. She is an advocate for increasing the number of women that go into science and engineering fields. The panelists, along with Ride, answered questions that were submitted by the audience. Topics included how to get more girls to stay involved in high school and college, ways to avoid feeling awkward in a male-dominated work place, etc.

Sally Ride is the president and CEO of Sally Ride Science and professor of physics at the University of California, San Diego, and a former NASA astronaut. Annell R. Bay is vice president of Exploration Americas at Shell Exploration and Production. Sallie Keller McNulty is professor of statistics and dean of the George R. Brown School of Engineering at Rice University. Elizabeth Long is the associate professor of sociology and department chair at Rice University. Neal Lane is the senior fellow in science and technology with the Baker Institute for Public Policy at Rice University and served as moderator for this panel.